Acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes.

How acute hyperglycaemia affects memory functions and functional brain responses in individuals with and without type 2 diabetes is unclear. Our aim was to study the association between acute hyperglycaemia and working, semantic, and episodic memory in participants with type 2 diabetes compared to a...

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Main Authors: Anna Backeström, Konstantin Papadopoulos, Sture Eriksson, Tommy Olsson, Micael Andersson, Kaj Blennow, Henrik Zetterberg, Lars Nyberg, Olov Rolandsson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247753&type=printable
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author Anna Backeström
Konstantin Papadopoulos
Sture Eriksson
Tommy Olsson
Micael Andersson
Kaj Blennow
Henrik Zetterberg
Lars Nyberg
Olov Rolandsson
author_facet Anna Backeström
Konstantin Papadopoulos
Sture Eriksson
Tommy Olsson
Micael Andersson
Kaj Blennow
Henrik Zetterberg
Lars Nyberg
Olov Rolandsson
author_sort Anna Backeström
collection DOAJ
description How acute hyperglycaemia affects memory functions and functional brain responses in individuals with and without type 2 diabetes is unclear. Our aim was to study the association between acute hyperglycaemia and working, semantic, and episodic memory in participants with type 2 diabetes compared to a sex- and age-matched control group. We also assessed the effect of hyperglycaemia on working memory-related brain activity. A total of 36 participants with type 2 diabetes and 34 controls (mean age, 66 years) underwent hyperglycaemic clamp or placebo clamp in a blinded and randomised order. Working, episodic, and semantic memory were tested. Overall, the control group had higher working memory (mean z-score 33.15 ± 0.45) than the group with type 2 diabetes (mean z-score 31.8 ± 0.44, p = 0.042) considering both the placebo and hyperglycaemic clamps. Acute hyperglycaemia did not influence episodic, semantic, or working memory performance in either group. Twenty-two of the participants (10 cases, 12 controls, mean age 69 years) were randomly invited to undergo the same clamp procedures to challenge working memory, using 1-, 2-, and 3-back, while monitoring brain activity by blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The participants with type 2 diabetes had reduced working memory during the 1- and 2-back tests. fMRI during placebo clamp revealed increased BOLD signal in the left lateral frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex as a function of working memory load in both groups (3>2>1). During hyperglycaemia, controls showed a similar load-dependent fMRI response, whereas the type 2 diabetes group showed decreased BOLD response from 2- to 3-back. These results suggest that impaired glucose metabolism in the brain affects working memory, possibly by reducing activity in important frontal brain areas in persons with type 2 diabetes.
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spelling doaj-art-845b7a5e22dc472abdcf632e2ec0a52f2025-08-20T02:17:50ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032021-01-01163e024775310.1371/journal.pone.0247753Acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes.Anna BackeströmKonstantin PapadopoulosSture ErikssonTommy OlssonMicael AnderssonKaj BlennowHenrik ZetterbergLars NybergOlov RolandssonHow acute hyperglycaemia affects memory functions and functional brain responses in individuals with and without type 2 diabetes is unclear. Our aim was to study the association between acute hyperglycaemia and working, semantic, and episodic memory in participants with type 2 diabetes compared to a sex- and age-matched control group. We also assessed the effect of hyperglycaemia on working memory-related brain activity. A total of 36 participants with type 2 diabetes and 34 controls (mean age, 66 years) underwent hyperglycaemic clamp or placebo clamp in a blinded and randomised order. Working, episodic, and semantic memory were tested. Overall, the control group had higher working memory (mean z-score 33.15 ± 0.45) than the group with type 2 diabetes (mean z-score 31.8 ± 0.44, p = 0.042) considering both the placebo and hyperglycaemic clamps. Acute hyperglycaemia did not influence episodic, semantic, or working memory performance in either group. Twenty-two of the participants (10 cases, 12 controls, mean age 69 years) were randomly invited to undergo the same clamp procedures to challenge working memory, using 1-, 2-, and 3-back, while monitoring brain activity by blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The participants with type 2 diabetes had reduced working memory during the 1- and 2-back tests. fMRI during placebo clamp revealed increased BOLD signal in the left lateral frontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex as a function of working memory load in both groups (3>2>1). During hyperglycaemia, controls showed a similar load-dependent fMRI response, whereas the type 2 diabetes group showed decreased BOLD response from 2- to 3-back. These results suggest that impaired glucose metabolism in the brain affects working memory, possibly by reducing activity in important frontal brain areas in persons with type 2 diabetes.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247753&type=printable
spellingShingle Anna Backeström
Konstantin Papadopoulos
Sture Eriksson
Tommy Olsson
Micael Andersson
Kaj Blennow
Henrik Zetterberg
Lars Nyberg
Olov Rolandsson
Acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes.
PLoS ONE
title Acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes.
title_full Acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes.
title_fullStr Acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes.
title_full_unstemmed Acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes.
title_short Acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes.
title_sort acute hyperglycaemia leads to altered frontal lobe brain activity and reduced working memory in type 2 diabetes
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0247753&type=printable
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